"It's a big deal in the Japanese baseball industry" - Shohei Ohtani reflects on milestone home run to equal legendary Hideki Matsui's tally

Shohei Ohtani has created history after smashing his fourth home run with the Dodgers in their game against the Padres. Although the Dodgers squandered a lead and lost in the extra innings with an 8-7 final score, it was a memorable day for Ohtani.

The two-way star smashed his 175th career home run, tying with the record of Hideki Matsui. Ohtani and Matsui are now the leaders of the most home runs scored by a Japanese-born player in the MLB.

It's a huge milestone for Ohtani, especially in Japan, and he's expected to break Matsui's record soon. Reflecting on his achievement, Ohtani stated that he's happy and it's an honor to share the same as Matsui.

"I'm happy personally, it's an honor to be in the same stage as him, and obviously it's a big deal in the Japanese baseball industry," Shohei Ohtani said.

Matsui is Ohtani's idol and he's proud to have an achievement with the legend from Japan.

Dave Roberts praises Shohei Ohtani on reaching milestone

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised Shohei Ohtani for his performance and reaching a milestone. Roberts stated that Ohtani is unflappable with his performance.

"He's really unflappable, he really is," Roberts said.

Roberts also praised Ohtani for handling his gambling controversy situation with his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.

"This is something that will play out how it should. There has to be a trust fall for the players, and there was. No one has handled it better than him," Roberts said.

Despite a slow start, Ohtani is picking up the pace for the Dodgers and is now holding a batting clip of .353. Ohtani has an OPS of 1.098 with nine RBIs and four home runs. The slugger is finally able to concentrate on baseball now that he's proved innocent of the whole gambling scandal.

Ohtani was also grateful to the Department of Justice investigation.

"Very grateful for the Department of Justice's investigation, like to focus on baseball," Ohtani said.

Ohtani is determined to win the World Series title and the Dodgers are the best team to help him achieve that goal. The franchise is also depending on the two-way start to help them win the title. However, the team is not having the perfect start to the season as expected.